A Blend of Artistry, Via a Blend of Partners

How Project Halo showcases the power of creative collaboration between agency partners and brands.

Project Halo is a ground-breaking initiative that has been a passion point of mine as we aspire to unlock the?ability of consumers X Artist X Brands to co-create one-of-a-kind personalised label designs/ artwork. The technology, powered by Generative AI, empowers consumers to co-create designs on Diageo products in a way that is bespoke to them and relevant to passion points and cultural interests.

Pilot

The first Pilot as part of our “Halo” Platform went live on August 1st in Edinburgh at Johnnie Walker Princes Street with “A Blend of Artistry” , we have a long history of testing and learning within the Diageo breakthrough innovation team and Johnnie Walker princes street. Having adapted our work on What’s your Whisky to power the "journey of flavour" experience leveraging the Flavour print Algorithm to create a more personalised and meaningful experience for visitors to the site.

Process

Project Halo was 18+ months in the making and a true cross-disciplined collaboration both inside Diageo and most importantly externally with expert partners across Digital experience build, Software automation, Print innovation and Generative Ai technology. When setting out to build the Halo engine we needed to bring together a creative tech agency that could help build the core digital product and interface, A software company to help upscale the AI artwork output and an innovative print company to really push the boundary of premium pack personation. We were very lucky to bring together leading partners Phantom, Hybrid, Roland and GMG to make this happen.

Partners

The partners of Project Halo are more than just partners, they are co-creators themself. They share a passion for innovation, quality, and HALOs potential. Having come from agency side, I have seen first-hand the brand vs service provider challenges and wanted to make sure when we set out, we would do this differently. Throughout this journey, we have tried to make sure that we have a mutual playing field between all around the table, with respect of POV, Knowledge and experience, regardless of Agency, Brand or Functional team.

By working together, they have been able to leverage their respective strengths, resources, and insights, and create something that is greater than the sum of its parts. The partners of Project Halo are not just thinking about this as a one-off campaign but the long-term platform possibility this test and learn can unlock with an “engine” approach. By blending cultures, perspectives, and experiences with our partners it means you are able to build a more robust and fit-for-purpose product.

Possibility

When going into and building such an ambitious Platform such as “Halo” and its first iteration with Johnnie Walker and “Blend of Artistry” its always important to think big, but start small. To be able to take partners brands and stakeholders on this journey, get investment and passion for it to succeed. We believe that the possibility of this foundation “engine” we have put in place with these partners, should always instil the importance of a repeatable and reusable business model to flesh out the long-term effects of the Platform build approach. It’s not always just about getting the project over the line, but building something that has a legacy and long-term business transformation. This engine represents this, thanks to the partners rolling up their sleeves to make it happen and shape the blueprint for the very exciting pipeline we currently have.

?Thank you to all our partners and the players who made this happen.

We are only getting started with this “HALO” foundation, Experience The “Blend of Artistry” at Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh throughout August. Watch this space!

If you get a chance to visit throughout fringe we would love your thoughts